Irradiation behavior study of U-Mo/Al dispersion fuel with high energy Xe

Irradiation responses of U-Mo/Al dispersion fuel have been investigated by irradiation with 84 MeV Xe26+ ions. Dispersion fuels fabricated with uncoated and ZrN-coated fuel particles were irradiated to various doses at ∼350 °C. The highest dose achieved was 2.9 × 1017 ions/cm2 (∼1200 displacement per atom (dpa)). Following the irradiation, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) experiments were carried out to characterize the microstructures of the irradiated samples. The post irradiation examinations (PIE) revealed that: (1) crystalline interdiffusion product (UMo)Alx developed at locations where no coating or compromised coating layer is present; (2) intact ZrN coating layers effectively blocked the interdiffusion between U-Mo and Al; (3) SEM-observable Xe bubbles distributed along grain/cell boundaries in U-Mo; and (4) gas bubble interlinkage was observed at a dose of 2.9 × 1017 ions/cm2.